Manifolding



3 Sheets-Sheet 1 l L INVENTOR.

. .,J Jin? c www, BY Cf/fvm ATTORNEY.

July 20, 1937.

H.' w; CARROLL. JR

MANIFOLDING I Filed June 1o, 1929 Tg i Q* l July 2o, 1937..

H. w.v CARROLL, JR

MAN IFOLDIN'G Filed June 1o, 1'929 s sheets-sheet 2 INVENTOR.

AWcafm/M. @h ATTOR Y.

July `20, 1937. H. w. cARRoLl.. JR 2,087,850

' MANIFOLDING Filed June l0, 1929 3 Sheets-#Sheet 3 INVENTOR. HW Q'TFOZLJ?.

A ORNEY L Patented July 2,02, 1937 MANIFOLDING I Hezekiah W. Carroll, Jr., Hoboken, N. J., assignor to Autographic Register Company, Hoboken, N. J., a. corporation'of New lJersey Application .rune 1o, 1929, serial No. 369534.

1s claims.

vide improved means for facilitating the ad-l vancement of the worksheets over the platen predetermined extents or form-lengths when the lo worksheets on the platen have been written upon and itis desired to place fresh portions thereof into writing position. The means provided by the present invention for this vpurpose comprises one or more intercepting pins at the delivery- 15 side of the platenlocated in the path of movey ment of the pile'oi" worksheets so that when apertures in the worksheets reach the pins, the latter project into the apertures and intercept further withdrawal of the pile of worksheets. Resilient 20 sheets toward the pins and for'. holding them on the pins, and this resilient means is so arranged that when the end of the pile is lifted by. l hand, the resilient means yields and permits the pins to be disengaged from the apertures to permit the strips to be advanced until the next set of apertures is reached.A

An important feature of the present invention v is the provision of an attachment for typewriting 30 machines of the-Elliott-Fisher type which permits the paper-intercepting pins and the resilient means above referred to., to be mounted on the typewriter quickly and with ease and vwithout making'any changes in the typewriter construc- 13-5 tion other than to substitute one form of tearoff knife for another.

Other features and advantages will hereinafter-appear.

In the accompanying drawings- 40 Figure 1 is a top plan view of the platen and frame therefor of an Elliott-Fisher typewriter,

showing the present invention attached thereto.

. Fig. 2' is a, longitudinal section through thev platen, showing the 'parts in the positions they 4,5I occupy during the writing operation.

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2, but showing ...the positions .of theparts during the beginning of the advancement vof the pilel of strips over the platen.

r50 Fig. 4 is a perspective view ofthe modified form of tear-off knife used with the device of vthe present invention.

Fig. 5 isda perspective viewof the attachment of the present invention. 65 v The embodiment of the present invention means are also provided lfor urging the workherein disclosed is shown as applied to an Elliott- Fisher typewriting machine in which there isV a platen l0 supported in a frame and adapted to support in writing position a pile of worksheet strips I2 which may be led from any suitable source of supply, as, for instance, rolls |3 supported on vshafts or rods lll mounted in the frame il. The pile of worksheet strips l2 is led from the rolls I3 over separator bars l5 to the receiving end of theplaten and from thence `extends forwardly over the platen to the delivery end i6 thereof after being interleaved with carbon strips indicated in dotted lines in Fig.

-1 ,and adapted to be supported by longitudinally extending shafts or rods |8,`one at each side of the frame The side members of the frame are connected by a front transverse frame member I9, arear transverse frame member vor bar 20, see Fig. Land an intermediate frame member 2|. 20 The front bar i9 is a casting of the form indicated in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, and is provided with two vrearwardly extending platen-supporting lugs 22 to receive pins 23 depending from the front end of the at platen ill which occupies that 25 portion of the platen frame between the side members thereof and the frame bars I9 and 2|. Below the lugs 22, the pins 23 are encircled by springs 25 which hold the platen down, washers 26 being interposed between the springs and the 30 heads of the pins 26. The openings in the lugs are slightly larger than the'pins to permit slight movement of the platen at its front end which is occasioned by the dropping of the rear end of the platen away from rear platen-stops 2l,

carried by the bar 2| by means of blocks, 28 cut to receive the bar 2| and retained in their adjusted positions by the set screws 29.

Coacting with the upper edge of the front bar I9 is a tear-off knife and clamp 30 overlying 40 the leading edges of the worksheets and extended entirely across the front edge of the.

platen and in advance thereof.-l 'I'he knife and clamp andthe upper edge of the frontbar |9 is angularly disposed with relation to the platen 45 to more securely hold the worksheets in position and the knife has a front cutting edgelA against which the worksheets may be drawn and severed after being pulled forwardly beyond the writing area of the platen to separate asetof Written forms from that following.

It should be noted that the front bar 'I9 at its center has arcuate depressions 32 extending to a, point directly below the tear-0H knife which facilitates thel gripping by hand of the front or .2 aosaeeo leading edges of the forms which are located;I under the clamp and tear-off knife 3l?.

The tear-off knife t@ is carried hy swinging arms 33 xed to a shaft 34 to which are also fixed rearwardly extending bifurcated arms 35 and depending retracting arms 36 urged in one direction hy retracting springs 3l. The springs 3l are connected at their rear ends to platen-raising or elevating levers 38 of bell-crank/form carried by a transverse shaft 39 below the rear end of the platen. At the ends of the levers 38, opposite the points of attachment of the springs 3l, are mounted platen-supporting rollers il@ which engage the underside of the platen and support the rear end thereof in elevated position against the rear platen stop and paper clamp 2l under normal or writing conditions.

Mounted to swing from the shaft 39 and having a pin-and-slot connection ell with the arms 35 are a pair of levers l2 connected intermediate their ends by a transverse bar 43 on which is provided a bail 44 having its front ends extended under the shaft 34. The rear end of the bail 44 is connected as by a chain 45 to a treadle or other operating means adapted to be controlled by the user of the machine. When the chain is pulled down, the bail 44 will be pulled with it with the shaft 34 acting as a fulcrum and the bar d3 serving to apply power to the arms 42 for the purpose of depressing the latter, rocking the shaft 34 through the medium of the arms 35 and causing the cut-off bar and clamp 3U to be elevated as the arms are swung upwardly to permit the operator to grasp the leading edges of the workstrips' preparatory to drawing the same forwardly.

For the purposes of the present invention, it is immaterial whether or not the platen lil is allowed to drop preparatory to pulling the sheets forwardly, since the worlrstrips are not necessarily clamped between the platen and the front and rear clamps 39 and 2l. chine disclosed, however, the platen does descend, and for a more complete understanding of the features described, particularly the last referred to, attention is called to the patent to Foothorap No. 1,687,332, patented October 9th, 1928.

The device of the present invention is adapted to be "employed with worksheet strips having apertures 46 provided near the foot of each form, so that through the medium of these apertures the amount -of withdrawal of the strips may be limited and accurately gaged to bring the lines of severance 41, which separate the strips into form-lengths, just below the cutting edge 3l of the tear-off bar at' each paper-withdrawing operation.

The device of the present invention comprises a plate 48 adapted to be supported upon the upper edge of the front bar I9 and having downwardly bent lugs 49 adapted to engage the rear upper margin of the bar I9 to lie between the surface thereof and the end of the platen and to hold the plate against moving in paper-withdrawing direction. The plate 48 also has forward downwardly extending arms 50 adapted to lie on the front surface 5I of the vertical portion of the bar I9, and thus by joint action of the arms 50 and the lugs 49, the plate 48 is prevented from moving either forwardly or backwardly onv the bar I9.

To hold the plate 49 down on the upper edge of the bar, each of the arms 59 is provided with a hook-shaped clamp 52 adapted to conform to the shape of the bar I9 and having hooks 53 which embrace the forward ,edge of the bar I9 In the type of maand engage the under surface 54 of the bar. The hook-shaped clamps 52 are made separate from the arms 5@ so that the plate i8 may be slid in a vertical plane over the top of the bar i9 after the clamps have been removed and then the clamps d2 may be secured in place by means of screws 55 threaded in the arms 59 and a spacing block lit welded thereto. In order to permit the device to be mounted on any machine of the type for which it is designed regardless of minor variations occurring in the manufacture thereof, such as the thickness of the casting lll, the hookshaped clamps 52 are provided with slots 5l' through which the fastening screws 55 pass and which permit up-and-down adjustment of the hook-shaped clamps to proper position before the screws Share tightened.

To intercept the withdrawal of the worksheet strips, the plate 4&3 is provided with a pair of vertically extending pins or fingers 58 of such size, shape and position as to enter the holes it in the worksheet strips. They may be separate pins placed in the plate 48 or they may, as shown, be made integral with theplate being merely fingers struck up from the plate. The pins are slightly narrower than the diameter of the holes in the strips so that the holes 46 in the work# sheets will t over them loosely when the holes reach the pins in the paper-withdrawing operation.

To hold the worksheets down with the fingers 58 projecting upwardly through the holes i6 in the normal or writing positions of the worksheets, the present invention provides a resilient member in the, form of a relatively long coil spring 59 each end lof which is anchored in an angularly supporting member 59 secured to the plate 48. The spring 59 is of such dimensions and the angular members 69 are so placed thatthe lower edge of the springis normally below thetops of the fingers 58 and thus, as shown in Fig. 2, the worksheets are held down on the pins.

The spring 59 may be provided with a tube 6I, preferabh7 made of rigid material, thru which it passes and which acts as a sheath and causes the part of the spring enclosed thereby to move up and down bodily when initiating the withdrawal of the strips and when forcing the strips down toward the platen.

V4The spring 59 yields to permit the portion thereof which is within the tube 6I to rise above the tops of the fingers 58, as shown in Fig. 3, when the leading edges of the worksheet strips are raised by hand and this permits the holes 46 in the worksheets to be free of the fingers 58 so that they may be drawn forwardly to bring a As the paper-withdrawing operation continues,

the direction of pull on the leading edges of the strips becomes more nearly horizontal and thus the spring 59 is permitted to urge the strips downwardly.

This, however, it cannot do beyond causing the surface of the lowermcst worksheet to engage the tops of the pins 58, until the next succeeding set of holes 4B approaches the pins 58. And, when this occurs, the spring 59 causing the tube 6I to bear downwardly upon the pile of worksheets causes the strips to descend and the apertures 46 and pins 58 to be engaged and prevent further advancement of the strips. The operator then,

-by releasing a treadle or other operating means connected to the chain 45, allows the clamp and tear-off knife 30 to again engage the pile of strips and securely clamp them in place. This having been done, the writing forms' of the worksheet strips are drawn upwardly against the cutting edge 3| of the knife 30 to sever them vfrom the succeeding portions of the strips.

Since the worksheet strips may be substantially narrower than the platen I0 and thus not be guided by any of the .usual means-provided on the platen for the purpose, the present invention provides a pair of lateral guides 62 carried di-` rectly by the plate 48 of the attachment. In the form of the invention herein illustrated, these lateral guides are formed by cutting out and shaping'strips from the material of the plate itself and bending them so as to produce a horizontal portion 63 lying above the pile of worksheets and a vertical portion 64 forming a guide surface for the side edges of the worksheet strips of the pile.

The lateral guides 62 hold the respective strips of the pile in lateral registration with the apertures 6d aligned, and are so positioned on the plate that they maintain the pile of strips with the apertures d6 in line with the pins 58.

As shown in Fig. 5, the horizontal member 63 of the lateral guide is located in a plane slightly above the tops of the ngers 58 and thatA these horizontal members are located in a vertical plane slightly behind the vertical plane in which the ngers lie so that the lateral guides do not in any Way interfere with the lifting movement of the pile oi webs which is necessary to free the pile from the fingers 5t.

. a cross-bar at the delivery' side of the platen, said As above stated, the present invention provides a cut-off knife 30 which is slightly different from that usually supplied with the machine for which the attachment described above vis designed. This knife is identical with the knife usually supplied except that the portion 65 between the ends 66 is made much narrower'.- This narrow portion is provided so that the knife may, in swinging down from the position shown in Fig.

3 to that shown in Fig. 2, clear the fingers 58 and the spring 59 and its sheath 6i.

It will thus be seen that the present invention provides an attachment which may be easily and quickly attached to existing forms of manifolding machines such as the typewriter shown herein and which includes means for intercepting paperwithdrawal so as to regulate the advancement of the Worksheet strips form-length intervals, and that the sole moving part of the attachment is the spring 59 with its sheath 6 i Variations and modications may be made within the scope of this invention and portions of the improvements may be used Without others.

Having thus described the invention, what Vis claimed as new and for which it is desired to obtain Letters Patent, is:

l. An attachment for manifolding machines having a. platen forA supporting in Writing position a plurality of continuous strips each having aperturesV at form-length intervals, and having attachment includinga plate; strip-intercepting pins carried by the plate and adapted tojenter said apertures; and hook-shaped brackets for clamping the plate to the cross-bar, said brackets being adjustably connected to said plate.

2. An attachment for manifolding machines having a platen for supporting in writing position a plurality of continuous strips each having 3. An attachment for manifolding machines having a platen for supporting in writing position a plurality of continuous strips each having apertures at form-length intervals, and having Ya cross-bar at the delivery side of the platen, said attachment including a plate; strip-intercepting pins carried by the plate and adapted to enter,

said apertures; ears on the plate adaptedtoengage one side of the cross-bar and lie between the cross-bar and the platen for holding the plate against movement in paper-withdrawal direction; arms on said plate engaging the other side of the cross-bar which in conjunction with said ears holds the plate against movement horizontally relative tothe cross-bar; and hook.

shapedbrackets connected to said arms to hold the plate against vertical movement relative to the cross-bar.

4. An vattachment for manifolding machines having a platen for supporting a plurality of continuous strips in Writing position, each strip havingapertures at form-length intervals, said attachment including a plate adapted to be secured adjacent the platen'in the path of travel of the strips; strip-intercepting pins carried by the plate and adapted to enter said apertures to regulate strip-withdrawal; and resilient means for urging the strips toward the pins to cause the pins to enter the apertures when the latter reach the pins.

5. An attachment for manifolding machines having a platen for supporting a plurality of continuous strips in writing position, each strip havingl apertures at form-length intervals, said attachment including a plate adapted to be secured adjacent the platen in the path of travel of the strips; strip-intercepting pins carried by the plate and adapted to enter said apertures to regulate strip-withdrawal; and a spring secured at opposite ends Aof the plate and extending close to the pins for normally urging the strips toward .the pins to cause pins to enter the apertures in the strips when the apertures reach the pins.

6. An attachment vv'for manifolding machines having a platen for supporting a plurality of continuous strips in'writing position, each strip having apertures at form-length intervals, said attachment including a plate adapted to be secured adjacent the platenin the path of travel of the strips; strip-intercepting pins carried by the plate and adapted. to enter said apertures to regulate strip-withdrawal; a coil spring secured at opposite ends of the platel and extending close to the pins for normally urging the-strips toward the pins to cause the pins to enter the apertures in the strips when the apertures reach the pins; and a protecting sheath surrounding the spring.

'7. An attachment for manifolding machines having a platen for supporting a plurality of continuous strips in' writing position, each strip-havr cured adjacent the platen in the path -of travel tachment including a plate adapted to be secured adjacent the platen in the `path of travel of the strips; strip-intercepting pins carried by the plate and adapted to enter said apertures to regulate strip-withdrawal; and resilient means for urging the strips toward theV pins to cause the pins to enter the apertures when the latter reach the pins, said resilient means extending across the strips and being adapted to yield when the strips are lifted to remove the apertures in the strips from the pins.

9. An attachment for manifolding machines having a platen for supporting plurality oi continuous strips in Writingv position, each; strip having apertures at form-length intervals, said attachment including a plate to lee se-` cured adjacent the platen in the path of travei of the strips; a pair of pins formed integral with the plate and projecting upwardly therefrom adapted to enter said apertui s to regulate strip Withdrawal; Ylaterai guides f ed integra-i with the plate for engaging: the side edges of the strips to maintain the strips in such position that the apertures thereof are in iine with. the pins; a pair of arms at each end of the plate; a coil spring extending across the strips and having its ends anchored in said arms, said ceti spring being lo cated close to the pins and normality urging the strips toward the pins to cause tire pins to enter the apertures in the strips when the apertures reach the pins, said spring adapted to yield to permit the strips to be lifted to remove the pins from the apertures; and a sheatli surrounding the spring and adapted to cause the portion of the spring above the strips to rise and fell bodily in its movement under the inuence of the strips when the latter are raised from the pins.

10. In a manifolding machine, a platen for supporting a plurality of continuous strips in writing position, each strip having apertures at form. length intervals; means for regulating withaoaaeso drawal of the strips comprising a pair of nonreceding pins located at the delivery side oi? the platen and adapted to engage the apertures in the strips and intercept progress of the strips in their direction of withdrawal; and means for normally urging the strips toward said pins and for normally holding the strips with the pins projecting into said apertures, said means being releasable under the influence of the paper to permit disengagement o1 the pins and the apertures When initiating the Withdrawal of the strips and merely by manually grasping and moving the strips in one direction.

11. In a manifolding machine, in combination, a strip controlling pin positioned for engagement in apertures of a continuous traveler record strip. and a strip guiding tensioned coil spring positioned adjacent to Asaid pin.

12. An attachment for a manifolding machine equipped with a platen' for supporting in writing position continuous strips having strip-controlling apertures spaced therealong, comprising, in combination, a securing device for securing said attachmentV to the manifolding machine adjacent to the platen in the path of travel of the strips, whereby the attachment may be secured in operafJ -tive position on the machine or removed as a unit, said attachment including a plate, a. strip`A controlling pin carried by said plate and adapted to enter said apertures to control strip with dra-walx a strip-guiding member carried by attachment and including an elongated strip-enE gaging 'member extending transversely of the strip path adjacent to said pin, and resilient means cooperating with said strip-engaging menn her for urging the strips toward the pin to cause said pin to enter the apertures when the latter are moved forwardly into alignment with the pin.

i3. An attachment for manifolding machines having a platen for supporting a plurality of con tinuous strips in writing position, each strip havn ing apertures 'at form-length intervals, said atu tachment including a plate adapted to be' se= cured adjacent the platen in the path of travei of the strips; strip-intercepting pins carried by the plate and vadapted to enter said apertures to regulate strip-withdrawal; and resilient means for urging the strips toward the pins to cause the pins to enter the apertures when the latter reach the pins, said resilient means extending across the strips and being adapted to yield transversely of the planeof the strip path.

HEZE'KIAH W. CARROLL, Jn. 

